You, Me and E-Town

Elizabethtown may not have a Disney World, an Empire State Building, a major museum of any significance, a major bridge of any significance or really anything of any significance, BUT it did have Kate Leibrand and to me, she is considerably significant. After a one and a half hour train trip from Philadelphia to Elizabethtown, me and my bestie from Appel Farm were finally reunited.

There may not be any major over-priced tourist attractions to visit in Elizabethtown, but the town does play host to Elizabethtown College which is an attraction in itself, especially for a tourist. I've stayed in a few college towns so far on my journey (Durham, Florida and Nashville) and while I experienced a brief game of beer pong with some Vanderbilt boys in Nashville, Elizabethtown was my first introduction to the college life in America.

And I'm happy to say, college is one more stereotype flaunted by the movies and television shows which isn't so far from the actual truth - houses host keg parties, beer is served in large plastic red cups, the boys are jocks, the girls go to Homecoming and no one really cares about their actual education. And everyone on campus eats breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same gigantic cafeteria which has a smiliarly gigantic buffet of every possible food item you could ever want to eat.

I won't fill you in on the antics of my three days in Elizabethtown, except that I took part in a fair few of those large red cups and felt their effects. Thankfully, I was able to hold my own when it came to flip cup and beer pong.

Can definitely say I'll be leaving America with one or two new skills under my expanding belt.

Ciao for now.

Can Do In Canton

After the hustle, bustle and business of Chicago, it was nice to board the bus and arrive in Ohio. Seven hours later, I'd gone from skyline city to farmland fabulous. Ohio is famous for producing corn, apples and pumpkins and with Halloween just around the corner, those beautiful orange orbs are just about everywhere.

Ohio also offers the Carmeny family and my accommodation for the six days I am here. Courtesy of Lydia and Tim Carmeny, who I met while at Appel Farm, I have been welcomed under the roof of their 'Gram' who is just about as cute as a button. Imagine the kind of grandma you'd want if you were featuring in a cartoon, turn her voice up a few pitches and put her in a chair playing Boggle. And where ever Gram goes, Buddy the rescue dog must also follow. Gram's house is a bit like a hostel in itself, people are always coming or going or staying. She keeps a guest book in the foyer for those who are visiting to sign and like any good host, is constantly checking in to see you're happy and satisfied (your stomach that is).

Not that I need to be satisfied. Ohio itself offers everything the weary traveller needs. Beautiful vistas of green trees, slowly starting to turn yellow and red with the change to fall. Once abundant crops of corn now singed to gold as they drop their leaves. Ohio is about as picturesque as a postcard and even more so now that fall is starting to poke its face around the corner. Even now, in the late September, I can see the slow change of seasons as the trees begin to morph their colours. The houses in Ohio are dressing their front porches with orange, yellow and red festivities with haunting jack-o-lanterns burning bright in the evening light.

It must be quite an experience to be here through October and November - the trees burning up in the frost and dropping their leaves until they're left naked and bare, the streets full of kids in their costumes as they call for trick or treats and everything covered in snow as warm bodies celebrate Christmas around stoked fires and plates of pumpkin pie (of which I just had my first taste).

The aesthetic of fall is just as romantic as all those movies depict.

Ciao for now. xo

5 Interesting things I've learnt about the American-Way-Of-Life

Despite the fact that they speak the same language, look about the same, live in similiar environments and have the same expectations out of life, there is a serious cultural barrier between Americans and Australians. And when you live with them, side by side, these strange diversities become even more prominent. Here are 5 interesting things I've learnt about the American-Way-Of-Life:

1. Kool-aid is not Cordial - Kool-Aid is a disgusting sugary beverage that tastes like unfrozen jelly crystals. There really is no comparison between it and cordial, despite the fact that both are water-based and full of sugar. One sip and you can feel it breaking down your tooth enamel.

2. Don't know what the Heel and Toe Polka is - Monday Night Activities in Orientation Week was a Square Dance (aka. a Barn Dance) where we learnt square dances (aka. barn dances). When the Heel and Toe Polka came on, the three Aussies were in polka heaven while the Americans had no idea what was going on. That's right, they never learnt the Heel and Toe Polka with a sweaty-handed eleven-year-old boy in 6th Grade PE class.

3. Some interesting language confusions - mallow = marshmellow, flip flops = thongs, thongs = g-string, bug spray = Rid, swimsuit = togs, markers = Textas and skipping = jump rope.

4. Would you like some fat with that? - Every meal comes with a nice hefty side of fat. Pancakes are served with bacon. Lasagne is served with swiss cheese. Brownies are served with peanut butter. Eggs are served with a meat pattie. Mmm... fatty delisciousness.

5. Jelly, Jam and Preservatives are three different things - Jelly is a weak, flavourless spread which looks a lot like coloured gelatine. Jam is a weak, flavourless spread which looks a lot like coloured gelatine but with the occassional chunk of fruit and Preservatives are practically gelatined fruit which is impossible to spread.

Ciao for now. xo